Endings

The Coffee Girls (minus one) and I went shopping on Saturday—an impromptu trip that fell together quickly, and better organized than some of our planned adventures. I'm talking receiving a text at 9:45 asking if I wanted to go shopping and getting picked up an hour later! In that hour, I had to shower, get dressed, and print out my bookstore and craft store coupons--they call me the Coupon Queen. My motto is why pay full price when you can save with a coupon…but I digress. 

While we milled around the book/DVD section at Sam's Club, one of the CGs picked up a movie and showed it to another CG since it had one of her favorite actors in it. We had discussed this movie when the trailers were first shown, but none of us had seen it yet. The CG who adores this actor said she refused to watch the movie because she had talked with friends who had seen the movie and were disappointed in the ending--the lead character dies in a shocking way. The other CG who brought the movie to our attention asked if the movie was any good, despite the ending. S.A. and I spoke up at the same time, "Doesn't matter."

Have you ever read the ending of the book to see if you’re going to like how the story is resolved? I admit to being a second-generation ending reader. Sometimes I really try hard, especially while reading suspense, not to skip ahead because I like to guess who the villain is and if I’m right.

For this happily ever after girl, I want a promise of hope and a happily ever after. Since I'm investing my heart into this story and these characters, I want a heart-satisfying conclusion. 

Quite a few years ago, I watched a movie based on a novel written by a popular secular author who writes love stories—notice I did not say romances—yes, there is a difference. I loved the movie’s storyline and adored the characters until I saw the ending. My heart had been ripped out. I sobbed and not in a good way. If I had been reading the book, I would've been flung across the room. I was that angry! I vowed never to read that author's books or view movies based on that author's books again.

Rachel Hauck, one of my writing pals and favorite authors, talked about letters she had received from readers who were disappointed in the ending of one of her books. She wrote the ending which best fit her story and the character's arc. I wasn't disappointed in the ending because there was a promise of hope that the characters would have their happily ever after.

Endings affect the way a reader enjoys a novel. Some readers like me want the fairy tale and happily ever after. Other readers want a satisfying conclusion as long as the story is good. Of course, the novel genre influences the ending, too.  

Romances need to have a happily ever after where boy and girl fall in love and commit to a future. Women’s fiction novels need to have a satisfying ending for the character’s story arc. Suspense and mystery novels should have a solved crime at the end. The villain isn’t always caught, especially if the novel is part of a series, but most often, all loose ends should be tied up neatly for the reader. Fantasy and sci-fi novels should have a satisfying resolution to fit the story premise. Basically, the reader needs to have an answer for the proposed story question at the beginning of the novel.

“If you want a happy ending, that depends, of course, on where you stop your story.” ~Orson Welles

Share Your Thoughts: Do you read endings first? What kinds of endings upset you? For you writers, what genre do you write and how do you know when you’ve written a satisfying ending?

Perception

Look at the image to the left. Do you see a white pedestal vase, two facial silhouettes, or both?

Have you gotten an e-mail where you assumed the sender was angry or displayed some other negative emotion toward you? But, in reality, the sender harbored no ill will at all?

Hubby is my constant voice of reason. He'll say something, but I'll take it differently than he intended. When he asks why I'm upset, I'll tell him my interpretation of his words. His reply is usually, "no, that's how you perceived it. I didn't mean it that way at all."

Some of my perceptions come from my own self-esteem issues, or lack of self-confidence. Yeah, I have some baggage that gets repacked and carried around. I think we all do, to a point.

The way we perceive spoken words, e-mails, tones in conversations stems from who we are and our backstory. A person with low self-esteem may perceive another person's words or actions in a negative way. A more confident person may have a different interpretation of the same conversation or action.

How would you perceive the following sentence:

"Fine, I'll go to the store by myself."

Are you reading as if the speaker said it in a annoyed or huffy manner? Or are you reading it as if the speaker said it in a positive, upbeat way.

Reading e-mails and social media messages tend to trigger different perceptions than the sender may have intended. Sometimes my friends will post something that has me wanting to keep my distance from them. When I question them later, more often than not, I read something into their tones that differed from their intent. Also, not knowing the entire conversation can affect the way we perceive messages.

If you find yourself in a situation where you're questioning someone's emotions, ask that person if that was their intended tone, or if it was simply your perception of what that person was saying. Simply assuming someone is angry with you or Putting words or the wrong emotions in someone else's mouth is destructive to relationships. Have faith and confidence in your own abilities, and then trust the other person by taking their words at face value. Communicate with that other person if you think there's a problem.

"We can always choose to perceive things differently. You can focus on what's wrong in your life, or you can focus on what's right." ~Marianne Williamson

Share Your Thoughts: Do you perceive tones, words, and emotions differently than was intended? Why? How do you react when this happens?

Why?

I work with young children on a daily basis. The question they ask the most is "why?" They ask this constantly because they are sponges, soaking up all kinds of information. If you give them one answer, chances are they will continue asking why. Yes, this can be annoying, but it's how they learn. Many times I will ask them why and they usually tell me "because."

Asking our characters "Why?" is one of the best ways of getting to know their history and finding out their motivations for their actions and behaviors in the story.

Think of characters from your favorite books and movies. Why do they act in a certain way? Usually their motivation stems from something that happened in their childhood.

I've watched Leap Year recently...okay, about ten times now. What can I say? I love Matthew Goode's accent. :)

Anna, the female character in Leap Year, likes to have a plan in place and know where she is going through life.

Why?

Because while she was growing up, her father was a fly-by-the-seat-of-his-pants kind of guy who was always on the lookout for the next big idea. His lack of structure had Anna working after school in order to keep their house, which ended up being repossessed on Christmas Eve.

That trauma affected the decisions she made as an adult. 

In The Proposal, Margaret works hard, demands much, and has little fun.

Why?

She lost her parents when she was a teenager and forgot what it was like to have a family to love. Her work became her purpose in life, so she demanded the same from her staff.

Each main character in your story should have an internal goal--usually something inside them that is motivated by something in their past--and an external goal--something tangible that helps them to achieve their greatest dream. As you get to know your characters and learn their story goals, ask why they want those things. 

In Leap Year, why does Anna want to go to Ireland?

To propose to her boyfriend who seems to be dragging his feet. After all, it worked for her grandparents.

In The Proposal, why does Margaret want to marry Andrew?

To keep from being deported and losing her job, which is everything to her. 

Asking "why" allows the writer to:

• get to know the character.
• create believable motivations.
• maintain consistency with character.
• challenge character to develop and grow.
• allow character to react in a realistic manner.
• force the character to do something toward the end of the story he or she wasn't able to do at the beginning.

Once you determine your characters' goals and learn their motivations, you need to put obstacles in place to prevent them from reaching their goals. Those obstacles create conflict, which is necessary in order for your readers to keep turning pages. 

Monday Musing: Putting God in a Box

One of my favorite aspects of teaching Sunday school to elementary students is praise and prayer. They thank God for simple things--food, family, friends, clothes, summer fun, sunshine. They pray for things that  matter--healing for the bruises on their knees, a splinter in their fingers, their pets' fleas, a sick grandparent, our soldiers, the child in Swaziland we sponsor.

When they pray, they aren't reciting rote prayers. They aren't going through the motions. They pray with the innocence of a child who has the faith of a mustard seed. They haven't become jaded by life events. They believe God is bigger than the bogey man. And they get excited when they pray.

Adults have a lot to learn from children.

When you pray, do you pray with a faith that God hears your prayers, or do you recite a rote prayer that you don't believe will extend farther than the tree limbs. Adults tend to put God in a box, believing He has limited abilities or limited desires to help us.

Do you put God in a box? I confess to doing it more than I'd like. I've heard Bible stories of God's greatness for as long as I can remember. As I've grown older and learned how to apply God's principles to my life, I've also been apt to shove His greatness in a box. God is big. God is strong. God is mighty.

But God has more important things to care for than my little situation.

He doesn't care about the problem I'm having with my manuscript. Or why would He care about my minor toothache when people I love are sick with cancer? And why bother praying for little things when huge things like the BP oil spill pollutes our water, endangering His creation?

See how nicely I shoved Him in that box?

When we limit our thinking in determining what God can do, we shove Him in a box. Sometimes we duct tape it shut. Sometimes we sit on the box. Sometimes we pile other boxes on top of that one so He can't escape.

When we put God in a box, we are demonstrating our limited faith and could end up missing out on unexpected blessings.

So how do we keep from putting Him in a box? Practice a child-like faith the size of a mustard and know in our hearts and know without a shadow of doubt that God hears our prayers and answers them according to His timetable.

God wants to talk to us, move through us, and use us to spread His message. When we allow our hearts and minds to open and be used by him, we will see his mightiness is so huge, we couldn't even begin to find a box large enough to hold His amazing abilities.

For nothing is impossible with God. Luke 1:37 NIV

Picture courtesy of http://www.aldersremovals.co.uk/images/packing_box.jpg

10 Things I Love About You

Wednesday night, Hubby asked for my help with a homework assignment--he needed to come up with ten words to describe himself, and then had to ask someone else to come up with ten words. He needed to compare and contrast the two lists. Easy assignment, right?

Well, the hard part was limiting myself to ten words. Pen poised over paper, I thought for a minute, wrote two words, scratched out one, and rewrote another. I pictured him in my mind and considered physical characteristics and added another word. About ten minutes later, I asked what words were on his list.

"I haven't written them down yet."

"Well, you can't have my list yet. I don't want you copying me."

We laughed.

"What words would you use to describe yourself?"

He thought for a moment, and then said, "Loyal, honest, trustworthy, faithful..."

Man, those were great traits...and none of them were on my list. Could I have a do-over, please?

I showed him my list.

10 Words Used to Describe Patrick
1. Compassionate
2. Self-motivated
3. Handsome
4. Friendly
5. Funny
6. Analytical
7. Romantic
8. Affectionate
9. Strong
10. Voice of reason

With Father's day coming up on Sunday, I should've added Great Father, but didn't think of them at the time. Like I said, it was hard to limit myself to ten words.

One thing I noticed is if I had to make lists for our two sons, I'd list many of the same words. Our oldest son looks like his dad, and our youngest son has his disposition.

This is not an anniversary post or a birthday post, but one just to say, "I love you, honey, and ten words is not enough to describe you. I'm so thankful you're an important part of my life."

Share your thoughts: What 10 words would you use to describe an important man in your life?

Finding Time to Write

Today’s writers are not as those portrayed on TV. Many of us do not have the ability to write full-time, nor do we have opulent offices overlooking the ocean. Most of the writers I know work full-time inside or outside the home, care for a family, have church responsibilities, act as the family chauffeur, battle dust bunnies from overtaking their homes, and try to squeeze in a decent night’s sleep. Who has time to write? Well, many of them may not have time to write, but the majority of them MAKE the time to write.

With today’s writers juggling many responsibilities, carving out writing time is a necessity. So, how is it done? 

This past Monday night we talked about carving out writing time during the weekly My Book Therapy chat. This is a summation of the information I presented during the chat. You can read the full transcript here. 

I am a stay at home, work at home mom who owns and operates my own family-based child care program. I spend ten hours a day caring for six children ages two-five and provide them with hands-on early learning opportunities to further their development. I am NOT a babysitter. 

Hubby and I have one teenage son at home and one in college, who is currently home for the summer. My husband is a full-time student. I am the family breadwinner. Quitting my job to write full-time is NOT an option.

Oh, did I mention I teach Sunday school on a weekly basis? Add those responsibilities to my online duties as My Book Therapy forum coordinator, Voices ezine editor, ACFW Mid-Atlantic zone director, Afictionado bi-monthly columnist. And, in 2009, I graduated from college.

I'm not bragging on myself, so please don't think I am. I'm simply showing my crazy schedule. So, with that in mind, how did I manage to find time to write a novel?

Stolen moments. 


I write in the morning before my day started. I write during naptime. Instead of watching TV, I wrote in the evenings. Sometimes I say no to fun activities so I can meet my daily word count.


If you're still struggling to find writing time, consider these suggestions:

• Write during naptime 
• Delegate household chores and ask your family to help with cooking, cleaning, and laundry. 
• Turn off the TV and use that time to write.
• Set your kitchen timer for 15 minutes and write without stopping, editing, or backspacing.   
• Arrange a kid swap with a friend, family member or neighbor. Ask them to keep your kids for two hours and you'll do the same for them. Use those two hours to write. 
• If you can afford it, hire a college student to entertain your children for a couple of hours.
• Get up an hour early or stay up an hour later and use that time to write.
• Head to the library for an hour or two. 
• Take a notebook and brainstorm or make notes while waiting for children to finish extracurricular activities. 
• If you carpool or commute to work, use that time to write a scene...as long as you're not the one driving. :)

Set a daily word count goal, and then check your schedule for stolen moments to write. Consider asking a writing friend to be your accountability partner to encourage you and to crack that whip when your motivation fizzles. That word count will continue to increase as long as you are diligent about writing on a regular basis. If you want it badly enough, you'll find time or a way to make your dream happen. Don't you think it's worth it?

***

SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS: Do you work inside or outside the home? How do you manage to find time to write with your busy schedule? What suggestions do you have for others who are struggling to find time in their schedules to write?

Interview on Romance Writers on the Journey

Fellow writer Keli Gwyn interviewed me for her Romance Writers on the Journey blog. Stop by and say hi. Keli is a terrific interview who knows how to ask good questions to generate conversation. I will be giving away a cute prize. Comment on Keli's blog for a chance to win. 

Lisa's Interview